Heated rhetoric over disputed islands serves Asia poorly
Simon Tay says the heated rows involving China, Japan and South Korea over disputed islands are likely to set back ongoing efforts on economic co-operation, and the region will be worse for it
Tensions in Northeast Asia are rising sharply. Small islets - most unable to support human habitation - are the friction points. These are long-standing disputes, with the Senkaku/Diaoyu chain claimed by Japan and China, while the Dokdo/Takeshima islands are contested between South Korea and Japan.
The disputed territories do not relate to trade or investment between China, Japan and South Korea, which collectively account for the largest chunk of the Asian economy.
Nor do they directly result from a resurgent American attention to the region and a rising competition with China. Yet if tensions continue and escalate, there will be implications for the region's economic co-operation and security.
The flare-up occurred around the anniversary of the end of the Pacific war, on which the perspectives of Japan and its neighbours differ sharply. This could calm. However, domestic politics are at play and, with each leader seeking to gain support, nationalistic claims will be hard to discipline.
Tit-for-tat measures have already escalated the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute. Soon after Chinese activists landed and were arrested, Japanese right-wing nationalists responded by raising the Nippon flag over the islets, which Tokyo holds. This then triggered street incidents across a number of Chinese cities, with consumer boycotts and protesters overturning Japanese-made cars.
Reports that officials stood to one side, rather than seeking to control the protests, do not lend comfort. Recall 2005, when anti-Japanese protests turned into riots and caused widespread damage. It does not help that Japanese cabinet ministers again went to visit the controversial Yasukuni war shrine.